


Trophynirs

by EarlGreyAguilar



Series: Critical Six [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, One Shot Collection, Wildemount (Critical Role), mature rating is for potential mentions of sexual abuse (nothing explicit) and D&D typical violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarlGreyAguilar/pseuds/EarlGreyAguilar
Summary: It's been 5 years since the Six and co. defeated the Bloody Empress. 5 years later, Mary Dwendal is finally ready to hear about their adventures as a ragtag group of former queens.A set of one-shots taking place during and between 'Shades of Sun and Shadow' and 'there's nothing in this world i wouldn't do.'
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon/Jane Seymour
Series: Critical Six [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026967
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	1. The Trophy Room

The palace was quiet. Just five years ago, Mary Dwendal would have said the palace was uncomfortably quiet. Without the screams of prisoners, the chatter of conniving politicians, and the scheming of the nobles, she would have been certain that one of those groups had broken free of whatever chains bound them, and that they were on their way to kill her.

She would have met them with a radiant blast before they could blink. Before she could truly consider the consequences.

But that was a long time ago. There were no more politicians. No more nobles.

And as of today, no more prisoners.

Mary took a hesitant step outside her room. Then another. Then another, not even bothering to close the door behind her. She nearly fell to her knees in relief.

There was no holy sunlight shining down to punish her. No nagging voices hissing that she was a traitor, betraying all she had been taught.

All she could hear was her mother’s gentle voice prodding her forward, Jane’s reassuring hand like a ghost at her back as she took yet another step down the hall.

The quiet wouldn’t last for long, Mary knew that. The number people living in the palace now may be a fraction of how many there were, but they somehow managed to make double the noise. This morning, however, the occupants of Castle Dwendal were most likely tuckered out (and many, perhaps a bit hung over) from yesterday’s festivities.

Lizzie had finally been crowned Empress. In some ways, that was the moment Mary knew she was free.

From the night they met, Mary knew that Lizzie was going to make an incredible ruler. And in that same moment, she knew she could never be that for the Empire. Not after what she had done, not after the choices she made. She happily abdicated the throne to her sister, her first time in public since before the night she almost killed her mother, Jane, and the rest.

Nearly killed Elizabeth.

_But,_ she could feel Jane’s hand once more, _you didn’t._

But it wasn’t just that she was free to leave her room. She always had been free to do so, she knew that. Her path away from the dark may have started with Lizzie, but Mary had spent 5 years rediscovering herself, her family, and her faith. She felt her connection to Pelor even stronger than before, after years of working hard to atone for what she had done, and guidance from her mother.

Her mother had tried to insist that Mary be allowed to roam the palace at the very least. The others had agreed, and it was Mary who resisted, only leaving her room for meals, weekly prayer at the attached Temple of the Dawnfather, and to spend time reading in the library with Lizzie.

But now, Lizzie was Empress Elizabeth, she had good, trustworthy help and guard, and in no small part thanks to her mother’s efforts, the public was at last beginning to…well at least not want to burn Mary at the stake.

That was more than she deserved really. But, perhaps she had perhaps earned at least this small sliver of freedom?

Immediately, she heard Jane’s voice reprimand her in her quiet, understanding way. _“When you feel you have no choice, the worst side of you can come out. It doesn’t define who you are as a person. What defines you-”_

******

“-Is what you do afterwards.”

Initially, Mary had refused to even leave her room for fear of hurting anyone.

It was Jane who had sat by her side, talking, listening, playing dragon’s chess or helping Mary practice her Nicodrani. It was Jane who had spoken with her, as though she understood some small part of her pain, as her mother and Anne scrambled to assemble trustworthy council for Lizzie, and stave off the idiot politicians trying to find favor with the newfound heir for their own gain.

“You should be with them,” Mary had said that first time Jane had spent the day with her, just a week after the confrontation where Mary had nearly killed the blonde. “Mother needs your help.”

“Your mother is quite capable on her own,” Jane responded, “And I’m doing this because I want to. It has an added bonus of easing Catherine’s mind. Your move.”

Mary squinted at the dragon chess board on the table before them. “Wait, that wasn’t a legal move!”

Jane smirked. “Prove it.”

Mary opened her mouth to cast a spell, and shut it quickly. “No, I’m sure you’re right,” she said, her voice even as she clutched the armrests tighter under the table.

“Mary,” Jane said, in what would become a gentle, familiar tone. “Please look at me?”

Mary took a deep breath, but did as the warlock asked. Jane’s expression was kind, and a little sad. “Atonement does not mean letting people do what they want to you. It just means showing you are sorry, and doing your best to be better. What spell were you going to cast?”

“Zone of Truth.”

Jane smiled. “A week ago, it would have been a ‘Guiding Bolt up the butt.’”

Mary relaxed when she realized Jane wasn’t angry, then frowned. Her hands were under the table, so Jane couldn’t have seen the gesture to cast the spell. “How did you know-?”

Jane laughed at Mary’s incredulous voice. “Your mother does the same thing when she’s about to cast a spell,” she said, twisting her face, right eyebrow raising high on her forehead, left brow furrowed, the right side of her mouth pulling downward. “Divine SMITE!” Jane said, raising her voice and inflection, adopting Catherine’s accent, and bringing her hand down as if to cut an invisible enemy down with her hand.

Mary couldn’t help but laugh at the parody of her mother’s dramatics in battle. Jane really was spot on, and the whole sequence was strange to see on the normally reserved blonde’s features.

“I suppose it’s not the worst of my mother’s traits to inherit,” Mary said before smirking. “So Jane, which of my dear mother’s traits are _your_ favorite?” She lifted an eyebrow suggestively and grinned as the normally unflappable Jane Seymour turned beet red and looked up to the ceiling. Mary took that moment to quickly push one of her pieces to the far left, before going back to “studying” the board.

When Jane had composed herself, she glanced at the board. “That’s not where it was before!” she said indignantly, pointing to the piece Mary had moved.

“Prove it,” Mary said coolly, only breaking into a grin when Jane glared up at her, but now with a strange mix of pride and mischief.

“Oh, you’re ON.”

******

Mary opened the note she had found on her bedside table once more, the familiar scrawl of her mother’s terrible penmanship going diagonally down the note, just barely fitting the last word on the same line

_Meet me at the Trophy Room when you wake up, mija._

Mary HATED the Trophy Room. It was full of the heads of monsters, and hides of beasts, every inch covered in reminders of Henry’s “victories.”

She stopped just before the entrance. _It’s okay_ , she heard her mother’s soft voice in her head, the words so familiar now after five years of hearing them, as if her mother was trying to make up for the years of saying just the opposite. _It’s okay._

She took a deep breath and turned around the entrance to step into the room.

For a moment, she wondered if she had come to the right room. But no, it was still the familiar wide space and tall, sloped ceiling.

Where once hung the heads of animals where no one could touch, hung beautifully stitched banners. She glanced over the intricate details of each banner, first the blue, which she quickly skipped over, instead looking a little longer at the pink one next to it, the red beside that. Then the silver, with clouds and blue lightning, but the clouds were lined in gold. She saw the green with familiar flashes of cobalt blue, then nearly laughed aloud when she saw that the sun that dominated her mother’s banner was outlined in shimmering silver thread. _Those two,_ she thought with a fond smile.

Then she looked below the tapestries around the room, and was thoroughly confused. Instead of hides and taxidermy animals, there were glass cases filled with objects. Mary approached the right side of the room and peered in the glass. Inside the case, there were two strips of cloth, both colors, forest green and cobalt blue, familiar and well worn. Taking up the bottom length of most of the case was a strip of…it wasn’t even tree bark it was just as though someone had taken a tree and stripped a line of it off.

After puzzling over this strange bit of tree, Mary straightened and glanced around at the rest of the room. It was much less terrifying, a welcome change to the previous macabre display, but so many of the objects filled her with curiosity. A feeling still so foreign, that she had not allowed herself to feel since-

She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. _Since her father had shown her the dungeons._

Since the night she decided she wanted to learn no more secrets.

“ _H_ _ola, mija,_ ” came a soft voice from the doorway. Real this time. Mary turned to see her mother, dressed in her casual black pants and boots, white shirt, and yellow sash around her middle, hair pulled back in a neat bun.

“ _Hola_ ,” Mary responded, but not ready to respond with more Nicodrani. Her skills in the language were rusty after years of disuse, and while she had worked hard with Jane and her mother to become comfortably fluent once more, she was still far from that goal, and could never help feeling she was letting her mother down by not speaking her mother tongue better. “ _Mami_ , what is this?”

Aragon still smiled at the affectionate name after all these years, and walked up to the case Mary was looking at. “Kat calls them “Souvenirs” and Cleves calls them “Battle Trophies,” Aragon said before scrunching up her nose.

Mary grinned. “I know that look. What does Anne call them?”

Aragon gave a long-suffering sigh. “Trophynirs.”

Mary snorted. “I will never understand how you two became friends.”

Her mother shrugged. “You could probably ask Jane or Cathy. I swear, the two of them know us better than we do sometimes.”

Mary hummed in agreement, masking her discomfort at the mention of Cathy. _Not today._

She drew Aragon’s attention back to the case. “So these-”

“If you say Anne’s abomination of a word, you eat her cooking for a week.”

Mary shuddered. “These “Souvenirs.” They are from…your travels?”

“Yes. You mentioned you were ready to know more about our time as The Six, before…well, before you met Lizzie. This seemed like a good place to start.” She gestured around the room. “Each of these objects holds a story. Some I know. Some, we would have to ask the others about.” She clapped Mary on the shoulder and turned her to face the room. “Go ahead and choose one.”

Mary grinned, and began scouting the cases.

_No, not this one._

_That has to be an Anne story._

_…Definitely Cleves._

_I…don’t think I want to know._

Mary scanned the whole room, but kept returning to one object in particular. She stared at it, left to look at other cases, but came back, trying to puzzle out what sort of significance it could possibly have.

At last, she raised her hands in defeat. “I give up!” she said, waving her mother over. She jabbed her finger at the case. “Why this?” she demanded.

Aragon peered inside and burst out laughing. “I didn’t know Jane had put that there,” she wheezed. “Alright _mija_ , that’s an excellent place to start.”

“It all started a few months into the forming of the Six. We had gotten into trouble, as usual-”

“You mean Anne got you into trouble.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t always Anne, but I don’t remember who it was this time. Everyone had scattered, Anne and Cathy to the hills, Kat pulling Cleves into a crowd, and Jane and I wandered into the marketplace…”


	2. The Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Marketplace Incident takes place at the same time as Trust Fall in SoSaS. The second part of the story takes place between Helpless and Beach Trip. 
> 
> And yes, this is a reference to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GCQjQKAT6U

Aragon’s fist clenched at her side as she eyed the soldiers spreading out, entering the market square. Most of The Six were scattered to the winds and she had somehow ended up surrounded by the Crown's Guard _completely_ unarmed.

She felt naked without her sword hanging at her belt. She had been so focused on grabbing whatever she could from their breakfast set up as they heard the horns of the guard approaching, that she somehow hadn’t noticed that her sword was not on her person until she and Jane ran into the market square, splitting up to stand at separate stands across the thoroughfare from each other.

She glanced backwards at where Jane was doing a spectacular job at acting like any other shopper, asking after the prices of various meats. She appeared to be haggling. Aragon bit back a grin that seemed out of place considering the circumstances. _Same old Jane_. She froze when she saw what was there at Jane’s side.

Aragon’s longsword.

The guards were approaching fast, pulling people aside to look at their faces. Aragon’s mind raced as she tried to find a solution, any sort of out, anything-

And then she had it.

She turned to the merchant she had spoken briefly to before. “Here,” she said, flipping him a gold coin, which he caught, waving an eager hand over his wares.

“As many as you’d like, miss.”

“I should only need one.”

She grabbed one of the fruits sitting on his stand, and turned, feeling the weight of it in her hand, before chucking it, full force, at the back of Jane’s head.

“WHAT-?” Jane yelped, before her gaze fell on the offending object, and her narrowed eyes snapped up to Aragon’s. Aragon bit back another grin as Jane’s eyes bored into hers, a mixture of anger and questions that Aragon could read easily: _You better have a VERY good explanation for this._

“Sorry,” Aragon said with a smirk. “It slipped.” She reached behind her and pulled another orange from the stand, and lobbed it at an unprepared Jane, hitting her square in the face. “Oops,” Aragon said with a shrug. “I did it again.”

Jane, seemingly forgetting about the impending danger approaching down the street, bent down to scoop up the two oranges, and marched over to Aragon. She crossed her arms as she stopped in front of the paladin, hissing “ _What are you-_?”

“I don’t know, _Boleyn_ , what _am_ I doing?” Aragon asked in a loud voice, lifting a brow.

Jane’s eyes widened for a split second, then she took the two oranges, one in each hand, studying them. “Well played, _Howard_ ,” she purred, before spinning, faster than Aragon anticipated, to swing a fist at the paladin’s face. She just barely dodged, ducking underneath the blonde’s arm, and whirled behind her in an attempt to grapple her.

Jane managed to hurl one of the oranges at a nearby shopper, who gave an indignant shout before grabbing a vegetable from the stand he was shopping at, and hurling it in Jane’s direction. She ducked, pushing Aragon out of the way, and it hit a woman holding a baby, who screeched, grabbing the nearest item and throwing that in the direction the vegetable had come from.

Within seconds, the square had turned into a free for all food and fist fight, the cries of angry vendors drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Aragon grabbed Jane into a loose choke hold, and Jane reached her arms up to make it look like she was struggling. “Well done,” Aragon murmured. “Where’s your staff?”

Jane made a show of biting Catherine’s arm, smothering a laugh with cough as she was “released” from the choke hold to a very dramatic yell. “Someone else took it,” she growled, trying to stay in character.

“You two!” a guard yelled. They froze, and looked at him. “Found you,” he said with a smirk, approaching them with a spell scroll.

Jane looked back at Aragon who nodded. “Yeah, I’m not done with her,” Jane said in a frosty voice, and they charged each other, startling the guard who took a few instinctive steps backwards.

Aragon’s armor formed around her, and Jane drew the sword at her side, pointing it at the guard with a flourish, and lightning gathered at the hilt before shooting two bolts at the shocked guard. One hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a wooden cart, as Aragon lifted her shield to protect Jane from the ensuing wreckage, bits of wood and smashed fruit hitting the armor with a dull _clang_.

The other lightning bolt hit a tablecloth lying on a cart, and two both of the former queens’ shock, was soon drenched in flames that were spreading _fast_. The angry yells quickly became screams of panic as the guard forgot their quarry in their attempts to help the pedestrians escape.

Jane and Aragon took off away from the square, fighting through the flames and soot, and not stopping until they were at the agreed meeting spot.

They were nearly there when Jane, coughing up smoke, stumbled, her legs nearly giving out from underneath her. Without missing a beat, Aragon deactivated her armor, hooked an arm under the blonde’s arms around her back, and helped her the rest of the way.

They collapsed into the grass, and Aragon immediately placed a hand on Jane’s forehead, cleansing her of the smoke. Jane gave her a grateful smile as she took a few deep, clear breaths. “Are you alright?” Aragon asked.

Jane nodded, sitting up with a wince. “Yes, I’m fine. You?” she asked, giving her friend a quick look over.

Aragon waved away the concern as she sat up, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands. “I’m fine.” She made a face. “Though the fact that I had to use a Boleyn tactic is going to weigh on my soul.”

She gave a yelp of surprise as something hit her in the side of the head, catching it before it fell to the ground. It was the other orange, still in pristine condition. She looked up at Jane, who was grinning. “Why-?”

“To cleanse your soul.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Aragon cried, but she couldn’t be truly angry when Jane was laughing, clutching her stomach, and she soon joined in.

They were still laughing, covered in soot and lightly burned clothing, when a sopping wet Anne and Parr, and a disgruntled Kat and Cleves approached a little while later.

******

“Cleves! Why do you have all our stuff?”

“It was all in this bag. And the bag is what I grabbed. Aragon, I do not know how you carry it all day, it is very heavy. I did not think you were that strong.”

“Thanks? I think?”

_******_

“ _Mija, NO-_ ” Catherine sat up straight in the bed, disoriented.

She was okay. She was at an inn. The others were safe.

And her daughter was still in the clutches of her psychotic ex-husband.

“Catherine?” Jane said, voice rough from sleep. “Are you okay?”

Catherine took a second to collect herself before responding. “I’m fine.”

She felt the bed shift next to her and Jane put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Liar.”

Catherine gave a huff of amusement, turning her head to kiss Jane’s forehead. “Okay, not fine.”

“You’re worried about Mary.”

“How do you always know-”

“The only people you call _mija_ are Cathy, Kat, and Mary. You know Cathy and Kat are fine.” Jane knocked her nose against Catherine’s. “Talk to me?”

Catherine closed her eyes, feeling the cool touch of Jane’s skin against hers, grounding her and calming her panicked thoughts. “I know she’s still good. She has to be,” she whispered. “But what if I’m not the one who can save her?”

She expected another gentle rebuttal, or some miraculously well put reassurance that Jane had a habit of expressing.

She wasn’t expecting Jane to pull away.

Or for an orange to be thrown at her temple.

She picked it up with a laugh, seeing the slight charring on one side. “This can’t be the same one as the marketplace.”

Jane smiled, wrapping her arms around Catherine’s middle and resting her chin on the paladin’s shoulder as she studied the fruit with a small smile playing at her lips. “It is,” she said. “On our first visit to Rexxentrum, I had someone enchant it to stay fresh.” She squeezed Catherine tight when her fingers closed around the fruit, a tear slipping down the paladin's tired face. “If you’re not the one who can save her, we find the one who is. Like at the marketplace.” Catherine’s brow furrowed, and Jane continued.

“You couldn’t have been the one to get us out of the marketplace.” Jane pulled back as Catherine turned to look at her. “So you became Boleyn. Don’t give me that look.” Jane grinned as Catherine made an indignant noise of disapproval. “You figured out what would work, and Boleyn’s way would, so you used that.”

“We destroyed a lot of property.”

“Yes. But we got out alive.”

Catherine sighed. “And if we don’t find a way?”

Jane shrugged. “We will. But if we don’t, I guess we throw this at her,” she said, taking the orange from her.

Aragon frowned. “How will that help her?”

“You seem awfully worried about how to redeem her,” Jane said, tossing the fruit back into Catherine’s waiting hands. “That’ll cleanse her soul.”

Aragon stared down at the fruit, then looked up at Jane with a strange look in her eye.

Jane immediately began to backtrack. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t really a time to joke, but sometimes that help-” she was cut off as Catherine drew her into a kiss, and she immediately relaxed into it, closing her eyes and gently wiping Catherine's tears.

Catherine drew away. “I love you,” she said quietly, feeling Jane stiffen, her eyes widening. 

They stared at each other, frozen before the blonde relaxed and laughed in relief.

“I thought you were angry, you ass,” she said, hitting her lightly in the arm. “I love you, too,” she said with a grin, giving her another quick kiss, before pointing down at the fruit clenched tight in Catherine’s hand. “Do you want to keep that?”

Catherine shook her head, handing it back to Jane. “If I can’t ‘cleanse her soul’ as her mother,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers, “then I suppose it will fall to you, with your magical, citrus powers.”

Jane grinned. “I can do that.” She tugged on Catherine’s arm. “Now come on, you’re the one always bothering everyone about sleep.”

Catherine lay down next to Jane, tugging her into her arms, and kissing the top of her head. _“Buenas noches, mi amor,”_ she said softly.

“Goodnight, love.”

_******_

“The first time you told her you loved her was after she _threw an orange at your head?_ ” Mary exclaimed.

Aragon laughed. “I knew she was my perfect match.”

“I’m just glad I’m not the only one that knows my mom is a total dork,” Mary said, shaking her head. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she looked up at her mother with a look that made Catherine take a cautious step back.

“What?”

“ _Mami,_ I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So yeah, Trophynirs is essentially going to fill in the gap between the chapters of Shades of Sun and Shadow, and the END of SoSaS...and the sequel to it! That I am currently working on! 
> 
> Essentially, the "modern day" of Trophynirs takes place 5 years after SoSaS, and the sequel will take place 7 years after SoSaS. 
> 
> What I can say as of now about the sequel:  
> -Still Six related, and The Six are important, but we will be focusing on a new group of adventurers.
> 
> -Some of that group are familiar faces to the first story, some are historical folk somewhat related to The Six and co., and some are Critical Role related, though I will try to do my best to fill in the Critical Role related stuff that is necessary for people who haven't watched it/don't know the story.
> 
> -I am very excited about the sequel
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to my friend Yvo, who requested more "Badass Jane". I will do better next time, I have learned that I cannot have a chapter that is just "Badass Jane" if it involves Aragon because she becomes either Soft!Jane or Sassy!Jane.


End file.
